ICC Will Dissolve Partnership Between VW and Suzuki

The feud between Suzuki and Volkswagen will be solved with hearings at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in London that will begin in 2013.

Suzuki declared it is confident it will manage to it is sure that the arbitration will make VW give back the 19.9% stake in Suzuki it acquired in 2009 as part of the partnership agreement that went sour. VW paid 1.7 billion euro ($2.1 billion) for the shares and now Suzuki is willing to offer 2 billion euro to buy them back.

“The agreement with VW is already terminated, ” said Yasuhito Harayama, Suzuki’s vice president of business development. “Thus, VW does not have the legitimacy to keep on holding Suzuki shares… We are in arbitration in the UK for the return of these shares.”

Suzuki ended the partnership in November 2011, claiming that VW failed to provide the technology promised as per the agreement. According to Suzuki, VW broke the deal when it chose to supply Fiat with 1.6-liter diesel engines for its SX4 subcompact SUV. Arbitration hearings will take place in London at the beginning of 2013 and the legal proceedings will be held at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in London.